Kuzul

Those San Francisco Giants fans who were hoping to see Matt Cain take the mound Tuesday against the San Diego Padres will be sorely disappointed. 

The team’s official Twitter page updated supporters on the condition of the former All-Star:

San Francisco Chronicle reporter John Shea had Cain’s thoughts on the injury:

Alex Pavlovic of the San Jose Mercury News explains how the injury occurred:

Matt Cain was scratched from his scheduled start against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night after cutting the tip of his right index finger while making a sandwich in the clubhouse kitchen. The cut, which happened after batting practice, didn’t require stitches, but kept Cain from taking the mound because it occurred at a spot where Cain releases pitches from his hand.

San Francisco held a narrow lead in the National League West standings coming into action Tuesday, but Cain has disappointed in the early going. He is yet to register a win in his five starts and has already given up five home runs in 31 innings of work. His ERA checks in at 4.35, which is nearly an entire run higher than his career mark of 3.37.

Missing a start for a cut on his finger may seem like a drastic measure to take, but something like that can certainly impact Cain’s grip on the baseball and his subsequent control. Considering it is only April and he has struggled thus far, it is probably in the team’s best interest to ensure that its righty is entirely healthy before his next start.

Check back for more updates.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

By now, San Francisco Giants fans have undoubtedly heard plenty about their team’s starting pitching struggles in 2013. But even with the lackluster performance that defined Giants pitching last season, there’s plenty to look forward to in 2014, particularly when it comes to the aces of the rotation.

While Madison Bumgarner shouldered the bulk of the load in 2013, Matt Cain faltered early in the season. By the time he recovered, the Giants were well out of contention. 

But given each starter’s success in the second half of the season (and Bumgarner‘s success throughout), Cain and Bumgarner could form one of the best front ends of any rotation in the majors, if not the best, in the coming seasons.

Yes, that’s a bold statement, especially when considering that the Los Angeles Dodgers have Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, and the Detroit Tigers‘ duo of Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer is potentially just as scary.

But before you write off Cain and Bumgarner, take a look at just how promising this season is for both pitchers.

Cain is the more questionable of the pair, judging from his 4.00 ERA and eight wins in 2013. But in his last 18 starts of the season, Cain recorded 14 quality starts including nine of his last 10 games.

That led to a sparkling 2.36 ERA in the second half—a total eclipsed by only eight other players in the majors with over 70 innings in that span.

Of course, the starter who ranked one spot ahead of Cain in second-half ERA, besting him by 0.06 of a point, was Bumgarner. But that wasn’t anything new for MadBum, who finished with a 2.77 mark on the season, good for eighth in the majors.

Unsurprisingly, the only other duo from one team to feature in the top 10 in second-half ERA, aside from Cain and Bumgarner, were Kershaw and Greinke who finished first and third, respectively. Those two are the current gold standard for regular-season success, but there’s also something to be said for postseason experience and success, both of which Bumgarner and Cain possess in droves.

Indeed, Bumgarner has tossed 15 scoreless frames in his World Series career, and Cain owns a 2.10 career postseason ERA thanks to his astounding 21.1 scoreless innings in 2010.

That’s something neither Kershaw nor Greinke can speak to. Those who watched the 2013 NLCS are familiar with Kershaw‘s playoff shortcomings; that was nothing new, as he’s now 0-3 with a 7.23 ERA in his NLCS career for an overall postseason 4.23 ERA.

Greinke has been just as poor, with a 4.30 ERA in 37.2 career postseason innings.

The bottom line: If you’re looking for regular season stats, Greinke and Kershaw are your guys. But for those who prefer proven success in October (as well as in the regular season), there is no better pairing than Cain and Bumgarner.

For now, the Dodgers pair of Kershaw and Greinke reigns supreme to Cain and Bumgarner overall. There’s even an argument to be made for Verlander and Scherzer‘s supremacy. But if Cain and MadBum both turn in ace-worthy numbers in 2014, their postseason numbers and sustained success over the past several seasons would make them the de facto No. 1 pitching duo in baseball.

All statistics courtesy of Fangraphs.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

If you followed the San Francisco Giants in 2013, you’re probably well aware that the production from the starting rotation dipped so dramatically that the then-reigning champs saw a 32-point increase in their team ERA, including an 80-point jump from 2011.

But Barry Zito and his 9.56 road ERA are gone, and veteran Tim Hudson is in as the replacement. Add in Matt Cain’s second-half success (more on that in a second) and Tim Lincecum’s continuous improvement, and the outlook is relatively bright for the once-heralded Giants rotation. Let’s take a look at what to expect from the five starters in 2014.

Matt Cain

Cain’s numbers from 2013 are a bit deceiving when trying to project his 2014 totals. Yes, his 4.00 ERA was alarmingly high, but consider this: After the All-Star break, Cain had a 2.36 ERA.

Why did the Giants righty make such a drastic improvement? Quite simply, Cain regained his command in the second half. According to FanGraphs, his walk rate dipped from 7.9 to 6.1, and he allowed just 0.87 home runs per nine innings, a huge dip from the 1.29 total that marked his disastrous first half.

That’s a testament to Cain’s ability to better locate the ball in the strike zone, an inability that plagued him in the first half to the tune of 16 home runs allowed.

Don’t expect Cain to come close to matching those fantastic second-half totals this season; he stranded an astonishing 84.5 percent of runners after the break, a total he can’t match for an entire season. With that being said, expect Cain to once again return to ace-like form.

Projection: 14-7, 3.05 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 175 Ks

Madison Bumgarner

There’s not much to say about Bumgarner, except that the Giants could have used four more of him in 2013. The young lefty stepped in as the staff ace when the rest of the staff faltered, and he put together a 2.77 ERA with a minuscule .199 opponents’ batting average.

Opponents also had a .251 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) against Bumgarner, fifth-lowest in the majors according to FanGraphs. Conventional wisdom says that total will start to move upward toward the league average, but I’d argue that we can expect a similar BABIP, and thus a similar overall level of dominance, from MadBum in 2014.

Why? Because Bumgarner still possesses his nasty arsenal of pitches, and when he doesn’t strike out batters, they’re often weakly rolling over his pitches, as evidenced by MadBum‘s 46.8 ground ball percentage.

“I love the way he goes about it. No emotion,” said Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, per Henry Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle. “He just goes out there and competes. On the field, you just like to see that mentality. He gives up eight, or he shuts them out, and you see no difference in his attitude and mind-set.”

Manager Bruce Bochy has similar admiration for MadBum.

“I don’t put a ceiling on this kid,” Bochy said, per Schulman. “What he did in 2010, how he handled the playoffs and the World Series, he’s got a great makeup. He’s a big, strong guy who wants to get better.”

That drive to succeed, combined with a near-unhittable repertoire of pitches and promising statistical trends, all point toward another dominant season from Bumgarner.

Projection: 17-8, 2.80 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 210 Ks

Tim Lincecum

Once the ace of the staff, Lincecum is now the most unpredictable starter in the rotation. Gone are the days of accolades and record numbers, but can The Freak return to respectability?

After posting an MLB-worst 5.18 ERA in 2011, Lincecum lowered that total by 81 points last season. As he learns to pitch around hitters instead of trying to blow them away, he will continue to experience growing pains, as we’ve witnessed during the last few seasons. But those growing pains are becoming increasingly infrequent, and the improvement that we’ve seen from Timmy is a testament to that hard work.

There’s also some evidence that points toward a bit of bad luck for Lincecum in 2013. He stranded only 69.4 percent of runners last season, according to FanGraphs, the 10th-lowest total in the majors, and a number that should even out a bit this year. Lincecum also had the 28th-highest BABIP in the majors last season, again a total that could level out a bit.

That doesn’t let him off the hook, but it’s an indication that he could move closer yet to becoming an average MLB starter, which is essentially all the Giants are asking. Though, with the $35 million the club will owe him over the next two seasons, it certainly wouldn’t hurt if he reverted to his Cy Young-worthy performance. (Not going to happen.)

Projection: 11-12, 3.85 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 215 Ks

Tim Hudson

Hudson is coming off a pretty severe injury to his right ankle, so don’t expect any miracles this season. However, consistency is the name of the game when it comes to Hudson’s career, and you can expect more of the same in 2014.

Indeed, the veteran right-hander has never compiled a non-winning season, failing to eclipse a .600 winning percentage only twice in 15 seasons. He also hasn’t had an ERA above 4.00 since 2006, a number he’s reached just twice in his career.

Hudson is now back in the Bay Area, and he’ll once again pitch in a favorable pitcher’s park. (He compiled a 92-39 record in six seasons with the Oakland A’s at the cavernous Oakland Coliseum.) 

According to an Associated Press report, via ESPN, Hudson is progressing reasonably well in his return. He “looked good,” according to Buster Posey, and Bruce Bochy praised the veteran’s mechanics.

“He had a smooth, easy delivery, the same I’ve seen over the years,” Bochy said. “I don’t see him changing anything.”

Assuming Hudson returns from injury in time for the season and doesn’t experience much trouble regaining form, he’s primed for a nice return to the Bay Area.

Projection: 12-9, 3.75 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 120 Ks

Ryan Vogelsong

Perhaps the only pitcher in the rotation who rivals the unpredictable nature of Lincecum is Vogelsong. It’s hard to draw much from the small sample size that constituted Vogelsong‘s 2013 season, but he struggled mightily when he did pitch.

The safe pick would be to project something in between Vogey’s 2013 numbers (5.73 ERA, 1.56 WHIP) and his 2012 totals (3.37, 1.23), but I’m going to go out on a limb and expect a return to 2012 form.

Why? For one, Vogelsong is a true competitor, and he’s talked about how he shoulders the blame for 2013’s failures and how he expects to improve. I also wrote recently that Vogelsong won’t have the expectations that followed his 2011 and 2012 success, thanks to his down season and the Giants’ overall lackluster performance. He’ll begin the season as the No. 5 starter in the rotation, meaning the Giants won’t be asking much of him.

Speaking of the Giants’ down year, another positive that can be drawn from the failure is the additional rest that the starters received due to their lack of participation in the postseason. Perhaps that time off is just what Vogelsong (and the rest of the staff) needs to come out firing in 2014.

Projection: 13-8, 3.55 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 130 Ks

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Heading into the 2014 season, the San Francisco Giants will look to rebound from their disappointing 2013 campaign. Matt Cain, Pablo Sandoval and Tim Lincecum are three key players the Giants must see improvement from in 2014.

Last year, the Giants suffered from a World Series hangover and finished the season 76-86, third in the National League West.

The Giants’ starting rotation that has led them to two World Series championships underperformed and struggled to produce quality outings. Cain had a very uncharacteristically down year, finishing with a 4.00 ERA. Lincecum slightly improved from 2012 but struggled to find a rhythm for most of the season. 

Their fielding was awful, finishing 24th in all of Major League Baseball with 107 errors—18 of them came from Sandoval.

The Giants are not a team that counts on hitting home runs or scoring a lot of runs. They rely on pitching and defense to win ballgames.

Let’s take a look at why Cain, Sandoval and Lincecum must have bounce-back years in 2014.

Matt Cain

The Giants need their bulldog to return to his old form in the upcoming season.

For the first time since 2008, Cain finished with a sub-.500 record. He has been the rock of the Giants rotation and has thrown 200 innings for six consecutive seasons from 2007-12. Cain struggled to turn in quality outings and gave up a career-high 23 home runs in 2013. 

Cain is the longest-tenured member of the starting rotation and is depended on keeping his run total down and to win games. 

The starting rotation hasn’t been announced yet, but projections list Cain as the Giants’ No. 1. Madison Bumgarner had a breakout season last year and became the Giants’ most reliable pitcher. If Cain can regain his old form, he and Bumgarner could form one of the best one-two starters in the league.

Cain has to do a better job at limiting early inning runs in 2014. According to baseball-reference.com, Cain’s ERA in innings one through three in 2013 was 4.66. He struggled to keep runners off base and allowed 13 walks in early innings. 

If Cain can limit the free passes and keep runners off base, he will keep his pitch count down and be able to eat up more innings. 

How many games will Cain win in 2014?

Pablo Sandoval

Sandoval has been facing the same question almost his entire career as a Giant: Can he keep his weight down and stay healthy for an entire season?

Sandoval has proved in the past that he can lose weight, but he has struggled to maintain it from year to year.

In 2010, Sandoval was out of shape and got benched during most of the playoffs.

He spent the offseason focused on becoming healthier and lost 38 pounds, according to Jorge L. Ortiz of USAToday.com. 

The next season, the slimmer Sandoval hit for .315 and was voted to his first All-Star Game. 

Since 2011, The Kung Fu Panda has put on weight as seen in this picture timeline:

Last season, it was clear that Sandoval’s weight affected him, as he hit for just .278. 

Sandoval is a key middle-of-the-order guy for the Giants, and if he can stay healthy, he is capable of hitting 23 home runs like he did in 2011. 

Sandoval has the ability to hit for both average and power and could do some damage in a lineup surrounded by Buster Posey, Hunter Pence and Michael Morse.

Sandoval has to improve this season, because if he does not, the Giants could let him enter free agency next offseason. 

The Giants have locked up their homegrown talent, such as Posey, Cain and Bumgarner, on long-term contracts. 

If Sandoval wants big money too, he needs to maintain his new look for the entire season. 

Tim Lincecum

The Giants took a gamble this past October when they signed Lincecum to a two-year deal worth $35 million. 

The former two-time Cy Young Award winner has been nowhere close to the pitcher he was from 2008 through 2011. His ERA was 5.18 in 2012 and 4.37 in 2013, finishing with sub-.500 records in both those seasons. 

Cliff Corcoran of mlb.si.com wrote that “even as a sentimental move, it’s a failure. It’s difficult to imagine anyone wanting to continue to watch an iconic player scuffle along as an overpaid shadow of his former self. Apparently, Brian Sabean does.”

So, what does Lincecum need to do?

He needs to prove this season that he can still be a quality Major League starting pitcher again. He no longer has the 94 mph fastball he had early in his career, so he can’t rely on blowing away hitters anymore.

Lincecum proved that he can still be dominant without the high velocity as we saw in his no-hitter on July 13 against San Diego.

Command is more important now more than ever for Lincecum, and he cannot afford to give up 90 walks in a season, which he has been doing recently. 

If Lincecum can keep his walk totals down, look for him to have a turnaround season in 2014. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The hits just keep on coming for the San Francisco Giants this season. Starting pitcher Matt Cain will be the latest Bay Area star to go on the disabled list. 

The team’s Twitter account provides the details:

#SFGiants have placed RHP Matt Cain on the 15-day disabled list with a contusion on his right forearm.

— San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants) August 23, 2013

The news comes just one day after Cain suffered the injury in a 10-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night. Cain was taken out of the game immediately after taking a line drive to the right forearm. 

Cain had pitched 3.1 innings with seven hits and three earned runs before the incident. 

Despite those poor numbers, Cain remains one of the Giants’ most prized assets. The team is in last place in the National League West, but Cain has been the team’s most effective starter behind Madison Bumgarner.

He has pitched 156.1 innings this year with an ERA of 4.43 and WHIP of 1.14. His record currently stands at 8-8. Now the Giants will be forced to find a suitable replacement for the 28-year-old. 

Dealing with injuries is nothing new for the Giants this season, though. Cain will be joining pitchers Chad Gaudin and Jeremy Affeldt on the DL. Outfielder Angel Pagan leads the list of other important players that are currently out of commission. 

Just one season removed from sweeping the Detroit Tigers in the 2012 World Series, the Giants are the latest example of how quickly the injury bug can force a team to fall from grace.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The San Francisco Giants pitching staff is officially being put on notice—step up your game.

Pablo Sandoval has gone on the disabled list, reports Mercury News, meaning there’s a hole in the middle of the lineup.

While guys like Hunter Pence and Buster Posey are still in the middle of the lineup, it’s time for the pitchers to stop depending on the offense to score a lot of runs. It’s time for them to live up to their hype.

In 2013, they’ve been anything but what we saw in 2012.

The Stats

The starting rotation ranks 25th with 26 quality starts, with only 21 of 33 wins coming from the rotation. And that’s not the only problem. They are 24th in ERA (4.75), have no complete games or shutouts, and have walked 132 batters.

The offense has given them 4.3 runs of support per game, yet they still struggle to finish the job.

In fact, it’s been the relief corps who has gotten the job done with a 2.83 ERA, which ranks second in baseball.

The supposed ace, Matt Cain, is 4-3 with a 5.09 ERA and 75 strikeouts. Only seven of his 13 starts have been quality, and that’s the highest number for a Giants pitcher.

Then there’s Tim Lincecum, who has fallen off the map the last two years. Lincecum is currently 4-5 with a 4.75 ERA and 74 strikeouts. Only four of his 12 starts have been quality.

Should I continue?

The best of the bunch has been Madison Bumgarner with a record of 5-4, a 3.58 ERA and 79 strikeouts.

Then there’s Ryan Vogelsong, who has been good for the Giants over the last two years. He only has one quality start to his credit and has a 7.09 ERA.

It’s not pretty for the Giants rotation.

What’s Gone

With the loss of Sandoval, the Giants lose a guy who has been key in the No. 3 hole and one who has been clutch with runners in scoring position.

When runners are on second or third, Sandoval is batting .377 with three home runs and 30 RBI. With two outs, he’s destroying pitches even more with a .500 average.

Needless to say, the Giants are losing a lot with Sandoval out of the lineup.

San Francisco has lost seven of its last 12, giving up almost six runs a game in each of those losses. In the five wins, the Giants have scored 27 runs, while only giving up 12.

Seeds of Greatness

Seeds of greatness are there, but it needs to be more consistent.

The starters can’t depend on the offense to get them out of jams.

There’s a reason why the Giants gave Cain an eight-year, $139.75-million contract before the 2012 season.

He needs to start pitching like the team’s ace. He needs to pitch like he did in 2012, when he showed he was worth the money.

As far as Lincecum, he’s in a contract year. That should be enough motivation.

And if Zito wants to get even a decent contract next year, he has to improve as well.

There’s a lot in this rotation, and they’ve proven it before. But it’s just not showing this year.

Hopefully, the pitching staff gets woken up by a good bat being on the disabled list. They need to stop depending on the offense and start pitching like the all-stars they are.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

ESPN used to run a commercial featuring a young couple having cutesy time on the couch. As unsavory as that image was to a sports fan just wanting to watch game highlights, the visual turned absolutely repugnant once the camera zoomed out to reveal the guy was wearing an Ohio State sweatshirt, while the girl was sporting her Michigan threads.

Just thinking about it makes you uncomfortable, right?

Now imagine a Giants fan and a Dodgers fan embracing on the couch, making out and whispering sweet nothings in each other’s ear. I don’t know about you, but I just threw up a little in my mouth.

Well, that is because the two fanbases don’t get along. In fact, they downright hate each other. They hate each other’s teams, their team colors, their hometowns and their regional vernacular. They even hate the air the other side breathes (with good reason, at least for Giants fans—LA air is filthy).

And it doesn’t help that the players in opposite dugouts hate each other, too, carrying on a rivalry that extends back to the New York days for both franchises.

The list of reasons why the two sides hate each other is seemingly endless, but here we’ll just look at five of the reasons Giants fans hate Dodgers fans so much.

Begin Slideshow

The San Francisco Giants have been known for their pitching for a long time. But this year, the staff has regressed a bit.

All five pitchers have gone through rough patches this year, some longer than others. Even Matt Cain, he of the perfect game, 15-5 record and 2.86 ERA, has had his struggles. Madison Bumgarner has too, and Tim Lincecum has had a rough year overall.

However, despite all of that, the Giants are still 10 games ahead of the second-place Dodgers in the NL West and 25 games over .500. And, their pitching rotation is still dangerous. But what would make it more dangerous?

Arranging the postseason rotation the right way.

Here is my blueprint for what the Giants’ playoff rotation should look like.

Begin Slideshow

June 13 was a perfect night for Matt Cain and the San Francisco Giants.

Cain tossed the first perfect game in team history, retiring all 27 Houston Astros hitters in order and striking out 14 of them. Giants fans went ballistic when first baseman Brandon Belt caught the final out, and it marked yet another special moment in Giants history.

However, there haven’t been any special moments for Cain since the perfect game.

When Cain threw his perfect game, he was viewed by just about everyone as the ace of the Giants’ pitching staff. Tim Lincecum was struggling, and Cain, who had never received much attention, suddenly was the recipient of lots of attention.

And he’s still been getting lots of attention. However, it hasn’t been good attention.

Since throwing the 22nd perfect game in league history, Cain has struggled. He hasn’t pitched into the ninth inning or shut out the opponent in his last eight starts, and he is just 2-2 in those starts (1-2 in his last seven starts). In his last seven starts, the Giants are 2-5.

Cain only allowed two earned runs in five innings Wednesday against the Mets, but those stats don’t show how he performed. Gregor Blanco saved a run with a spectacular catch in the fourth inning, and Cain got away with some mistakes when runners were on base.

In the start before that, Cain shut down the Dodgers for 4.2 innings. Then, he started to make some mistakes. He left pitches over the plate consistently, and the Dodgers scored two runs in the fifth and one run in the sixth. Cain wasn’t charged with a loss, but he deserved one (the Giants eventually lost in extra innings).

Even though he still has decent numbers (Cain is 10-4 with a 2.82 ERA), Giants fans have a reason to be concerned. Cain has always been known for his consistency, and while he has been somewhat consistent since his perfecto, Giants fans haven’t seen the dominant performance we’ve been looking for from Cain (after the perfect game).

Cain doesn’t let many runners on base (he has a team-leading 1.00 WHIP), but he has struggled to pitch out of jams. He did a good job getting out of jams against the Mets on Tuesday, but in other previous starts, he struggled with that.

When Tim Lincecum was struggling mightily in the first half, Cain dominated to make up for Lincecum’s struggles. However, Lincecum has done well since the All-Star break, and Cain has been the one struggling.

Luckily, the rest of the pitching staff has picked him up nicely.

Ryan Vogelsong led the league in ERA before his start Friday night against the Rockies. Vogelsong doesn’t lead the league anymore, but he still does boast a 2.38 ERA and a 9-5 record. His streak of 16 consecutive quality starts ended against the Rockies (he allowed four earned runs in 6.1 innings pitched), but he continued his streak of 21 starts with six-plus innings pitched.

Vogelsong has a true feel-good story and better statistics than Cain, yet people still think of Cain as the team’s ace. Vogelsong knows how to force weak contact, get out of jams and pitch under pressure, which is why he’s been so good. Cain has struggled to do some of that, and he’s made more mistakes than Vogelsong.

Right now, Vogelsong is the team’s ace. Cain is still a good pitcher, but fans should be worried about him. Usually, I’m ecstatic when Cain starts, because I know he will turn in a good performance. However, I don’t have that feeling right now.

He has shown signs of anger and frustration after bad innings and seems to have lost his confidence. Lincecum’s struggles were much worse, but Cain’s have been similar. His next start will be against the Cardinals, who have scored the second-most runs in baseball. That definitely won’t help his confidence.

It may take a little while before we see the dominant performance we’ve been looking for. Cain has been missing his spots, and opponents have been taking advantage of his struggles. If Cain can deliver against the Cardinals, I wouldn’t be worried anymore.

However, if his recent struggles continue, it could spell doom for the Giants down the stretch.   

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

An all-star manager’s role can be described in two different ways:

1) It is the easiest job in the world—it’s impossible to make a mistake with such a surplus of talent. You can literally throw any player anywhere and things will work out.

OR

2) It is the hardest job in the world—it’s impossible to squeeze so much talent into nine different spots in nine innings. While managers may want to implement a certain strategy with their starters (almost always the best players, except at third base for the NL this year), they also have to ensure that every all-star receives an ample amount of playing time.

NL manager Tony La Russa was picked apart by MLB analysts before we were even able to witness John Kruk stuffing his face with Kansas City BBQ. 

Were Johnny Cueto and Brandon Phillips intentionally snubbed? Was R.A. Dickey the deserving starter over Matt Cain? Should a retired manager even be allowed to participate in this event?

Tony La Russa has been scrutinized in every way possible, and although I agree he shouldn’t be managing this game (if home-field advantage in the World Series is involved, then active managers should be the ones fighting for the win), future all-star managers have a ton to learn from La Russa’s strategy.

La Russa has ignored the traditional “all-star approach.” He isn’t going to sit back and let players’ statistics mandate when/where they will play. No. Instead he is putting his very own spin on the game, managing in the same manner that won him three World Series titles and the third most games in MLB history.

Just because R.A. Dickey has the most wins in the MLB doesn’t mean he is the best option to start the game. 

[If you really want to argue stats, Cain has the same number of shutouts, is .22 higher in ERA, .03 higher in WHIP, thrown five fewer strikeouts, .1 less innings, and the three less wins? Dickey ranks 14th in run support (6.83 runs/game) while Cain ranks 45th (5.46)]

Did you ever care to think about how the move might play out? If Dickey throws first, the AL will see fastball pitchers for seven straight innings. But with the knuckleballer sandwiched in between two normal pitchers, it’s that much more of an adjustment AL hitters will have to make midway through the game.

Look at the Cueto/Phillips “snubbing” as well. Believe it or not, there is reasoning other than “he’s holding a grudge.”

La Russa loves his lefty/lefty, righty/righty pitching match-ups, and he let that influence his nine final picks. Every starting pitcher he chose was a lefty. Before his final decision, the NL’s bullpen had five lefties in comparison to eight righties. It’s not a coincidence that he chose to balance that out.

With Phillips, it was simply a matter of versatility in the field. Ian Desmond is quicker than Phillips and can play all over the infield. Desmond allows more flexibility late in games. Plus, with each player coming off the bench, Desmond is more of a threat to pinch-run and steal bases.

As a fan, you have every right to question a manager’s moves, especially when it’s a manager of another team. But how can you not love La Russa’s motives? He is transcending the game to a whole new level. It’s what Commissioner Selig has always wanted. It’s how we bring back the passion of Pete Rose plowing over a catcher in the Midsummer Classic.

Why shouldn’t a manager pick players he favors with his final nine picks? Isn’t that why he has that right in the first place? If I’m in that situation and winning is my primary concern, I’m selecting the guys who are going to bust their butts. I’m picking guys like Bryce Harper who run the bases on every pop out. And at the same time, I’m noting the difference between pitchers with great mound presence and those who show a poor demeanor. It’s my choice, and I’m going to weigh those options on my scale, not anyone else’s.

La Russa understands he is managing a baseball game with a lot on the line. Without an NL victory in 2011, his team may have never won the World Series last season. He’s not going to treat this like the celebrity softball event, and sometimes that means angering a fan or two.

He’s going out there to win, and if that means acting differently than the managers before him, so be it. 

He’s going out there to win, whether you like it or not.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com